Log Entry No 4 - 30th Sept 07. (Yacht Discoverer)

FROM THE CAPTAINS CABIN

Yacht Discoverer is making fine progress south towards the equator. A 24 hour pit stop at the Cape Verde Islands has refreshed the crew and given them an insight into a completely different way of life.

Kris, Andrew, Jamie, David, Chris D, Will, Callum and Gav enjoying a spot of swimming

NAV CHECK

Wednesday: 188.9 Nautical Miles

Thursday: 155.4 Nautical Miles

Friday: 53.8 Nautical Miles - To 1730

Saturday: 83.0 Nautical Miles

Sunday: 113.0 Nautical Miles (to 1855)

Crew working on Main Sail

We are now enjoying a smooth sail south to the equator having left the Cape Verde Islands after a 24 hour stop. Yesterday we were closely tracking the progress of Tropical Storm Melissa which has been gathering momentum to the South West of the Cape Verde islands. While it was forecast to continue moving slowly west, Skipper Andy Fernie was all too aware that it could turn back and head east. The decision was therefore taken to head directly south. This morning the weather fax churned out the news we had been hoping for – Melissa had continued her passage west and was now not a threat, we then readjusted our course straight to Brazil.

We made good progress on Wednesday, making the possibility of reaching the Cape Verde Islands by Friday a real possibility. On Thursday the crew were tasked to investigate the options for spending a day on one of the islands. Kris and Jade gave a presentation on Thursday lunchtime on the history and available options for entering the Cape Verde Islands, narrowing our choices down to two – Sal and Mindelo. We choose the island of Sal because we would arrive Friday morning rather than late afternoon and it was more on our course. In preparation for arrival the ships clock went back another hour on Thursday night, the task fell again to Red Watch to soak up the extra hour.

On Thursday afternoon Discoverer hit her first bit of bad weather on the voyage to date. The warnings signs were signified by large waves coming towards us from the south, this was bizarre as we were sailing downwind with the NE tides. As Blue Watch took over from Red Watch at 6pm, the rain started and grey clouds came over. 4 hours later, the skies were clear and the sea was like a mirror, quick painless – I don’t think that will be the worst we see.

Capt Simon Glover doing his dobey

Land was sighted at 4.05am by Blue Watch and at 8am Discover was lying at anchor off Palmeria, Sal. The skipper, first mate and Will went ashore in order to book onto the islands and try and obtain some local currency. They found a filthy and poor town whose locals were generally sat around watching the world go by. Skipper Andy Fernie commented “We saw some pretty seedy bars and the public toilets were from your worst nightmare.” On eventually locating the police station to book in, they were greeted with a prisoner escaping followed by the police in hot pursuit, leaving Andy, Danny and Will in the police station alone! The next town they visited was slightly more prosperous although the general poverty around was obvious to all. On returning to the boat, the decision was taken to move onto Santa Maria on the south of the island, hoping for somewhere more inviting to spend the afternoon and evening.

The difference between the two locations could not have been more stark. Santa Maria is fast turning into a luxury tourist resort. What we had thought from a far to be a wind farm dominating the skyline, was actually a mass of cranes in the process of developing a luxurious paradise. Once we arrived in Santa Maria, we all took the opportunity to have a refreshing swim before the tender ferried people ashore. The greeting on arrival by the locals was a new experience to many of the crew, from the moment they stepped ashore they were hustled and bustled by locals. A constant stream of souvenir sellers, trying to entice us to their shops. We held firm and kept in groups and never let individuals be separated, despite the best efforts of the hustlers. At one point about 8 members of the crew were queuing for currency in the foyer of a bank with hustlers hanging around like vultures ready to entice us back to their layers. There were some nice bits and pieces to be had but a lot of haggling was required to get a half decent price. Sanctuary came in a beachside café and we were left to enjoy the scenery in peace.

The watch rotation has been changed slightly to adapt to the ever increasing heat, the day watches are now 7am – 1pm, and 1pm – 7pm, leaving the night watches: 7pm – 11pm, 11pm – 3am, 3am – 7am.

Cpl Smith enjoying a sunset in the mid Atlantic In Other News

The physique epidemic on board continues, no hour during the day goes by without one person or other doing press ups, sit ups or tricep dips. For some it is a voluntary health tax that they pay before having a cigarette, for others it is a chance to increase their physique.

The crew has continued to be amazed at the phenomenon of flying fish; are they a flock or a shoal as they skim across the sea. They have at times proved dangerous, a sedate conversation on night watch was interrupted by a flying fish finding its way into the cockpit, often only narrowly missing someone’s head, a lesson to be learn’t: be wary of little fish.

Today there has been a rearrangement in the crews quarters. The heat down below is steadily rising and a conscious effort has been made to keep it down in the cabins, the watches are now being mixed so that there are rarely more than 3 people sleeping in a cabin at anyone time.

Preparation for the crossing the line ceremony has begun with Red Watch tasked to make a cut throat razor and Blue Watch some large scissors. The Guardsman in 1st Mate Danny is beginning to show and a daily Brasso task has been created to keep the ships brass looking tip top. Morale was raised for a lucky few when 3 members of the crew received a quick reply to the first round of personal emails leaving the boat. The afterguard have taken onboard global meteorological skills in order to track tropical storms – very exciting! Watches are now playing word games on watch, from just a minute to frustrating ‘find the rule’ games which leaves slower participants tearing their hair out trying to catch on.

LT AJ COLQUHOUN

FROM THE MOTHER WATCH’S GALLEY

Thursday evening meal: Sweet and Sour Pork and Beef served with red cabbage followed by Bananas and Custard, cooked by Jade Dunham and Dan Surtees.

Friday evening meal: Eaten ashore in Santa Maria, Sal, Cape Verde, in a fantastic fish restaurant       (Callum Ladell and Will Nicholls were in luck!).

Saturday evening meal: Pasta Bolognaise, cooked by Andrew Grieve, Kris Bhudoye
Sunday evening meal: cooked by Chris Davies, Gavin Elliot.

Capt Glover, Lt Colquhoun, LCpl Minns and Andrew Grieve went off to top up the yachts supplies with fresh rations from Santa Maria on Saturday morning.  On arrival at the pier a member of the gathered throng quickly made himself known to us as Nilsen, a professional yachtsman.  He kindly offered to guide us to the best places to buy bread, vegetables and other necessities. He quickly became very useful as he fended of the usual stream of hustlers. A nice man, he was slightly over attentive but did seem to be concerned about the reaction of the tourist to the hustlers. He informed us that most of the hustlers are from the African continental mainland from places like Senegal, he was very upset that the government was not doing anything to protect the islands vital tourist trade from such people. Having successfully navigated us through the back streets of Santa Maria and with shopping in tow he deposited us back from whence we came, at a charge but with a fantastic receipt at our request for his services.

LT AJ COLQUHOUN

FROM THE CREWS QUARTERS

From the Blue Watch

Chris D:
27/09/2007: “Finished on Mother Watch this morning and had my first shower at sea which was really good because now I don’t stink anymore! Ha ha. Really hot day today, had to lather up on sun tan lotion because I don’t want to burn. Not far from Cape Verdes now, the skipper is deciding which island to stop off at. I also finished reading my book yesterday, it was really good. I think I’ll have to find another one to read now!!

Will:
30/09/2007: Going well so far. We stopped off at Cape Verdes for a day and night, went for a swim and a couple of drinks/ meal in the evening.
Set sail again Saturday dinner time, with the threat of a tropical wave. It is now Sunday lunchtime and I think we have missed the storm. Very hot but everyone is happy but tired.

Dan:
30/09/2007: “Still feeling great but the weather is getting hotter every day and sleeping is getting very uncomfortable! We stopped off on Friday in the Cape Verdes which was a good laugh and we were able to have a swim, but I was gutted because I couldn’t get a signal on my phone to call home and speak to my girlfriend! We are now back under way making good progress and should be in Brazil in about 13 days!”

Andrew:           
27/09/2007: “The watch last night was fun. Danny (1st mate) was on the helm whilst we played word games to pass the time. Plenty of flying fish landed on deck last night, one actually reached over 3 metres and nearly took Danny out. The wind died down, so it was decided to put a larger foresail up and sail towards the Cape Verde’s. This took us nearly 2 hours, part of our watch didn’t get to bed until 0345 (Lt C: the watch should have finished at 0200) buts that’s all part of being crew.”

30/09/2007:      
“Saturday started later than usual, the ship was cleaned whilst I went ashore with Danny, David and Andrew to buy more supplies. Onshore we met Nilton, who took us around the local shops. Nilton is from another Island called Sao Vincente. As we were walking around, I noticed there were a lot of new building developments.

From the Red Watch

Jade:
29/09 2119: “ We’re now sailing towards Brazil, taking about 2 weeks. It will take about a week to the equator. Am on watch at the moment, have an hour and 40 minutes left. Has been boiling today, my knees are still burning! Kris is trying to make me fat, he has been feeding me cheese, he’s tying to make me a member of the Special Pen Service – argh!”

Gav:                 
27/09 Lunchtime “Hey up people, bit boring today, sat on watch and got another 2 hours left. Haven’t written in this for a bit so I’ll tell you the interesting parts like the plankton coming off the back of the boat and glowing that was mental, looked amazing . Can’t wait to get to Cape Verdes.”

Kris:                
27/09: 1525 “Interesting day today. From 2 am onwards we lowered the pole (Lt C. Holds the foresail on the opposite side to the mainsail when going downwind) and switched the sides of the sails (which is called gybing) It did take 1 hr 45 min’s but was an experience.  It took both watches to complete the manoeuvre.  Today we fitted the asymmetric spinnaker to try and gain some speed coming up to Cape Verde. Myself and Jade prepared a short presentation on the history and merits of the various islands.”

Callum:
30/09 Lunchtime:  “Got up at around 12 today I think, everybody else got up long before, anyway am on watch now, looking for pirates or killer whales and what not … gotta add some amusement.”  .. 15:52: “Have just finished a total of 1hr 20mins on the helm, it gets very agitating and to add the heat makes it even worse, I have a headache which isn’t good. I have just realised that when I get back to my regiment my fitness is going to be appalling.”